March 6 - March 12, 2016

Rank	Podcast	Episode	Lowdown
1	Surprisingly Awesome	Frequent Flyer Miles (#8)	I've always enjoyed John Hodgman, though his personality always seems to be searching for it's true home. Podcasting is a good fit for his brand of off-kilter deadpan, and while I do enjoy "Judge John Hodgman" the brand of humor mashed up with the journalistic radio stylings of Adam Davidson hits a sweet spot. Form follows function as this combination of hosts unearth a story that pairs the zaniness of extreme couponing with an individual whose mind is calibrated to beat the system. I'd've been intrigued by this topic even without a thrilling mix of host styles, as I am always up for scoring a sweet deal. We all know that companies are smart enough to build things that are impossible to game, but at the same time we like to think we can outsmart their coprorate wiles. So when a lone figure rises up and makes the system deliver all that it promises, and much, much more...well that is surprisingly awesome.
2	Longest Shortest Time	Behind Family Lines (#77)	I can't fathom joining the military, for reasons too numerous to list in this epithet about a podcast episode. Suffice to say in most cases this leads me into a mental space where I can feel protected by our military whilst simultaneously feeling totally opposed the propogation of armed forces here or abroad. This makes it really tempting to play the "just get rid of it all" card when confronted with any of the myriad of conundrums presented by the age old institutions of war. Complete abolition is, of course, not a tenable solution given the scale of the ripple effect such an action may yield, but it doesn't stop me from idealizing a world in which human beings do not seek to kill other humans regardless of how valiant the justification. All that to say it's rare for me to find a story about war that presents a new angle of humanity with which I can empathize. Stories about single mothers adorn the ranks of television melodramas, but they do not often float to the top of a pool of reporting. Darlene Martinez' journey seems more in line with a fictional narrative, and it simply must be heard to be believed. As is to be expected, there are some deficincies in the old-boys-club hierarchy of the military that make it incredibly difficult to be an active duty mother. While I may not agree with the decision to enlist at any age (Martinez did so at the tender age of 16!), the power structure should afford necessary accomodations to anyone accepted into the ranks.
3	Flash Forward	My Everything Pal (#29)	The concept for this podcast is brilliant - each episode explores an alternate future reality by interviewing present-day experts in applicable fields. It's the fun hypothetical conversations you expect from Cracked in a more formal investigative interview structure. This week's show focused on a world "where everything we do is tracked and quantified." Even if you don't don 30 smart devices that capture your every move - like self proclaimed "mindful cyborg" Chris Dancy - chances are that your life intersects with social media or wearables on some level. Companies are collecting data from users that helps to shape their products and in turn our lives, and it's up to us to be vigilant and aware about what exactly we're buying into with each new gadget or service to hit the market. This seems especially prescient in a week that may mark a seminal turn in the development of AI, as Google's AlphaGo rattled off three consecutive wins against a top-tier human competitor in a game requiring large amounts of intuition. Robot overlords are still a long ways off, but the threat will creep up on us if attention isn't paid.